Last season, Sam Reinhart showed the Western Hockey League that he wasn’t your typical 16-year-old, not your average rookie, and is probably a player you’ll be hearing about for the next few years. And beyond.

Having been admittedly out of the WHL loop for the past decade, Ryan McGill caught up on all of this — quickly.

“Outstanding,” said the Kootenay Ice first-year head coach, who is back in the WHL and has been pleasantly surprised with the sophomore’s progress since he was hired in Cranbrook over the summer. “He’s a 17-year-old player in a 20-year-old brain. He’s really come that far since training camp. From what I’ve seen this year, he gets better every day. I think that’s a good sign of a pro hockey player.

“I think he’s been trained well from an early age. Instinctually, he’s two steps ahead.”

Which, of course, should come as no surprise given his pedigree and upbringing. Most of his hockey knowledge and instincts have been learned through osmosis through his dad Paul, and his brothers Max and Griffin.

Smart with the puck, head on a constant swivel, and calm under pressure, Reinhart does much with the ice time his given — and he’s on the ice, well, a lot.

“He does all the little things right you’d never expect from a 17-year-old player,” McGill said before his club’s trip to the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday. “It’s quite remarkable. The biggest thing is how smart he is. He doesn’t overextend energy. He still works hard and competes hard.

“He’s so smart about where he needs to be on the ice that he doesn’t seem to get tired in games.”

Reinhart dazzled as an underage player, called up as a 15-year-old to play with his big bro Max and the Ice for four games and scoring twice in 2010-11. That, clearly, was foreshadowing for 2011-12 when he was dubbed the WHL’s rookie of the year after netting 62 points (28 goals and 34 assists) in 67 games, beating out Kamloops Blazers sniper Tim Bozon for the nod.

But this year has been different.

For one, their roster is young and features eight 17-year-olds including Reinhart himself.

“It’s definitely a learning curve,” said the well-spoken native of Vancouver, who’ll return to his hometown as one of three 1995-born players playing for Team WHL at this week’s Subway Super Series against the Russians. “Definitely it’s frustrating.

“But we have to learn to battle through that. It seems like in the WHL and junior hockey, there’s so many ups and downs you go through. Winning teams always have to battle adversity and this is what we’re taking it as.”

And for him, personally, not having Max around is an adjustment. Having him around on and off the ice, naturally, eased his way into the league.

“As a 16-year-old coming in, he just created that home environment at the rink and at home because I was able to live with him,” Reinhart said. “We were able to live with the same (billet) family. Twenty games in, when I went home to Vancouver to play on the road trip there, we were paired together.

“We started clicking there and it made it a lot easier to transition being away from home.

“He obviously helped a lot last year.”

Max’s experiences, however, are also helping Sam through the team’s recent struggles.

Heading into Monday’s game against the Calgary Hitmen, the team had only won four times this season which was shades of Max’s first year in the WHL. That year, 2008-09, the club went 35-29-2-6 but still made playoffs.

“His first year, they had a lot of young guys and really overachieved that year,” Sam said. “They obviously learned how to play with each other well.”

A useful nugget of advice from big brother — and one that he intends on applying ASAP.

“That’s what we’re going to have to start doing here,” he said. “We’re going to continue to do it now. When he first came, it was a really young team . . . but it paid off a couple years later.”

ICE CHIPS:

The line of J.C. Lipon, Colin Smith, and Tim Bozon, and goaltender Cole Cheveldave hit the top of TSN’s WHL player rankings list . . . Calgary forward Brooks Macek and Cody Sylvester also made the list at No. 11 and No. 21, respectively, along with Chris Driedger at No. 39 . . . Mark McNeill was dubbed the WHL player of the week, scoring two goals and five assists and a plus-three rating in three games. The Prince Albert Raiders forward and 18th overall selection of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2011 NHL draft is slated to compete with Team WHL against the Russians in the Subway Super Series later this week . . . Everett Silvertips defenceman Ryan Murray was given the captaincy for Team WHL in Wednesday’s game in Vancouver . . . Swift Current Broncos Adam Lowry will wear the ‘C’ in Thursday’s game in Victoria. Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Griffin Reinhart, Morgan Rielly of the Moose Jaw Warriors, and Calgary native Mathew Dumba of the Red Deer Rebels are assistants for both games.

“It’s more improv than anything. It’s made it a lot easier for me. You do get a lot of the same questions but he always talked about mixing up your answers. You need to try not to give the same exact answer every time.”

— Portland Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones on what he learned from his media training with actor Steve Shenbaum, founder of “game on Nation.” Jones, 18, is pegged as the potential first overall pick in the 2013 NHL entry draft and has been inundated with media requests this WHL season.

“This will make the trip home a lot better.”

— Victoria Royals head coach Dave Lowry, whose club has had 23 days between home games and, finally, snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-3 win against Medicine Hat on Saturday.

“You have to remind me?”

— Portland Winterhawks head coach and general manager Mike Johnston groaned, referring to the 2008-09 season which saw the team go 19-48-3-2 before the club’s turnaround into the two-time reigning WHL finalists. Johnston was asked about the forgettable year while on a recent stop in Vancouver as the Giants continue to spiral downward. He can relate.

“Barely missing last year fuelled me this year.”

— Airdrie native Ty Rattie on being one of the last cuts for Canada’s 2012 junior team. Rattie, a Portland Winterhawks forward, is gearing up for the Subway Super Series later this week. The games are the last chance for players to get noticed by Team Canada brass ahead of the 2013 world junior championships in Russia.

“It’s been 10 years. It’s been a bit of an adjustment but I would say for the positive. It’s just taken some time. You can’t overwhelm them with information ... baby steps.”

— first-year Kootenay Ice head coach Ryan McGill, who was an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames from 2009 to 2011 and also coached the 2001-02 Kootenay Ice, leading them to a Memorial Cup championship.

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